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Calgary brass must now rubber-stamp the first year of rookie’s entry-level deal or send him back to junior

Phoenix Coyotes' Radim Vrbata, of the Czech Republic, celebrates his goal scored against the Calgary Flames with teammates Mike Ribeiro (63), Martin Hanzal (11), of the Czech Republic, Keith Yandle (3) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (23), of Sweden, as Flames' Dennis Wideman (6) skates away during the first period of an NHL hockey game on Tuesday Oct. 22, 2013, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Photograph by: Ross D. Franklin
, AP

Glendale, Ariz. — The audition, much-ballyhooed, is over.

In the books are those nine games. Here’s a snapshot of the kid’s handiwork — six goals, three assists, nine points, minus-two, 21 shots.

And let’s be honest. All that’s left to complete the first chapter in the Sean Monahan saga is Calgary Flames general manager Jay Feaster signing off on the lad’s state of permanence in the National Hockey League.

Which, according to the smart money, will happen Thursday morning.

Till he hears good news, though, the 19-year-old has made it clear that he’s not discussing his immediate future. Monahan, after Monday’s standout performance in Los Angeles, had been asked if considered himself a shoo-in.

He declined to bite.

“At this point, it’s not up to me,” Monahan, furrow-browed, had replied. “So I don’t know what’s going to happen. I have no idea. I’m just going to continue to try to do what I do.”

As did the Flames on Tuesday.

Faltering in patches, the travellers nevertheless still managed to rally, still managed to push the Phoenix Coyotes, before falling 4-2 at Jobing.com Arena.“We got some timely goals . . . but too little, too late,” said Lee Stempniak. “You’d like to have a 60-minute effort to give ourselves a better chance. We knew we hadn’t played our game. If we’re skating, it does so much for us.”

Radim Vrbata and Mike Ribeiro scored for the Coyotes, who led 1-0 and 2-1 by periods.

Replying for the Flames was Stempniak and Joe Colborne, who, early in the third period, converted a breakaway with a smooth deke to the forehand.Hitting again the scoresheet had been Jiri Hudler, who stands as the lone NHLer to have recorded a point in every outing this season. The nine-game spree puts him closer to the Flames’ franchise record of 11, held by Bob MacMillan.

But, mere minutes after Colborne’s heroics had knotted things, Ribeiro restored the Coyotes’ lead. Rob Klinkhammer, later, rolled in an empty-netter.“Somehow we always get that last push — the last period, we play really strong,” said Sven Baertschi. “But we want to make sure we play a full game. If we can play a full game like we do in the last period . . . it’s going to be a totally different game, I think.”

Tuesday’s white team looked much different than Monday’s.

Tired, for one thing. First-period shots on goal offer a clue — 9-3 for the local side. Players scoffed at the notion of fatigue.

“It shouldn’t be an excuse,” said Baertschi. “We’ve played back-to-backs. The game in Columbus (for the season’s first win) was a back-to-back game and we came out flying.

“It felt like we were trying. It’s not that we didn’t try.”

The Flames’ lineup, only a day after prevailing in Los Angeles, had received a significant revamping. David Jones, having recovered from his shoulder troubles, hopped into the lineup. As did Roman Horak.

Which meant two forwards had to be shifted out — Brian McGrattan was a healthy scratch, while Ben Street was assigned to AHL Abbotsford.Worrisome, however, was the absence of captain Mark Giordano.

The gritty defender wasn’t able to dress because of lower-body issues. So in the standout’s place went Chris Breen, a six-foot-seven, 224-pounder making his debut.

“Gio is such a good player overall,” said Baertschi. “He’s important on the power play. He’s important on the P.K. He’s important 5-on-5. Missing him, you can feel it here and there. But Breener, for his first game, really stepped up.”

In the face of a rejigged lineup, the hosts did not waste their first crack on the power play. Goal to Vrbata.

The Flames countered with little.

In fact, when the Coyotes surged ahead 2-0 in the second period — Ribeiro’s tip-in at 10:19 — the shots were 17-5. Yes, five shots through 30 minutes of play.

“They were really solid and it felt like they were blocking a lot of shots,” said Baertschi. “They always took the shot away, especially for our defencemen. We never had shooting lanes. We only got a few shots through there. It felt like they had a second goalie in there.”

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